GoUnpackaged

1. As refill and reuse models move from pilot programmes to operational deployment, what have been the biggest structural barriers preventing large-scale adoption across grocery retail supply chains?

With no legislation to enforce adoption of reuse, there is very little incentive to be a first mover adopter. The temptation is to wait until a system is set up, with all the risks and learning associated with system change innovation, and then join once the majority of early issues have been resolved. Of course this is a false economy as by not being involved early, you don’t get to input to the design of the system and ultimately innovation moves at a far slower pace. We have been very lucky to work with Ocado, who have taken on the first mover role in online and also had a fantastic working relationship with Aldi as we developed refill systems for instore. Aside from a very low appetite for risk among most retailers, there are no real structural barriers to prevent wider scale adoption.

2. The Refill Coalition’s model is built around a standardised reusable vessel. From a systems perspective, how important is standardisation in overcoming fragmentation across retailers, brands, logistics providers, and packaging manufacturers?

We need to look at this from a customer/consumer perspective and what makes reuse simple for them to access, adopt and engage with. Standardisation helps them recognise the reusable options and doesn’t leave them looking for different things in different retailers. But we aren’t talking about one size/shape fits all, rather that there is an opportunity to standardise into a far more focussed palate of packaging options. In doing this, the system can optimise in a number of ways:

Better designed form that can optimise logistics throughout the supply chain – reducing the amount of air being shipped, better use of space, better use of fuel/energy in transportationEasier/simpler sortation of assets when being washed and prepared for refilling (if everything is in a unique form, there is much more sortation required). If a brand truly wants a unique packaging shape it is still possible but they will need to pay for the extra sortation and transportation required to manage that pool of assets.

Shared asset usage – like beer bottles, if many brands/products can be managed in a single shape, those assets can be managed/washed at a point close to usage and then sent to the closest filling point, reducing unnecessary transportation of empty assets. For instance, if reusable containers are filled with dried pasta in Northern Italy and are then sent as part of a consignment to the UK, once those containers have had their contents used by consumers, they can be sent to an industrial washing facility in the UK and sent on to a different UK based food manufacturer for filling, for instance it might be cereals. With standardisation we can ensure a pooled network that keeps assets washed, filled and in use rather than a send and return model that adds transport kilometres with empty vessels.

Importantly, standardised packaging is not at the expense of brands. As we can see in the canned food and beverage categories, brands, and big brands, can thrive.

3. Many refill initiatives have historically struggled with consumer convenience and operational complexity. What specific lessons emerged from the Aldi and Ocado trials regarding customer behaviour, participation rates, and friction points?

Customers loved both trials and now that Ocado is running the reuse offering as business as usual, we can see that customers find it both very easy to use and a better way to shop – their main complaint is they’d like more choice and more sold this way In the Aldi in-store trial we found 97% of users to find it hygienic and 89% found it easy to use (600+ respondents, quantitative surveys run by Opinium in-store) With the Ocado reusables we ran similar quantitative studies with Opinium and found 100% of customers found the product clean and the packaging hygienic and 96% were likely to buy again in the future. Our return rate for the Ocado system is currently running at 86% with no deposit applied
Overall what we find is that if you are clear as to the why, i.e. removing single use packaging, and then make the product available at the same (Ocado) or a slightly discounted (Aldi) price, customers are very happy to engage with reusable systems. The biggest fundamental issue is that it needs to be available to them where they shop and on the products they would normally buy.

4. The coalition spans retailers, logistics specialists, and innovation stakeholders. What governance or decision-making challenges arise when multiple commercial competitors collaborate on shared infrastructure solutions?

This is one of the challenges its worth thinking about before you even start, and luckily we did. There’s been a lot of work to try and ensure discussions can be had in an open way and we have sought advice from the Competition and Markets Authority and other advisors to make sure everyone can discuss in as open a manner as possible. It does need to be easier and there is more work needed to help the right conversations happen, but it’s still achievable So, aside from ensuring everyone are aware of and meet their duties as regards Competition Law, we also have worked very hard to ensure that everyone is aware, when decisions need to be made, of the ramifications of decisions on each of the other parties involved. Being able to compromise and understand the needs of the other parties in the wider system is paramount to achieving a good outcome. Personally, I have over 25yrs experience of facilitating diverging groups at the highest levels, so luckily we have been able to travel forward in a positive, collaborative way throughout.

5. How do refill and reuse systems alter traditional supply chain economics compared with single-use packaging models, particularly in areas such as reverse logistics, inventory management, and transportation efficiency?

In lots of ways, refill and reuse systems are a fantastic way to optimise traditional supply chains – enabling better design for better loading and logistics, using underutilised back-haul, and optimising packaging needs whilst hugely reducing waste.

The significant data based scenario modelling we have done (A 30% Reuse Future for the UK) shows that if we look at the full end to end supply chain, reuse and refill are much better economically as well as in sustainability terms and that includes all the reverse logistics, sortation and washing. People often think that because you’re moving and washing these reusable assets, that it will cost more – I think this is because few people truly understand the heavy costs of single use packaging in the first place and our modelling has now made this clear.

6. The reusable vessel was designed for both dry goods and liquids. What engineering or material science considerations were most critical in creating a format versatile enough for diverse product categories while maintaining food safety and operational durability?

We spent a lot of time pulling a detailed design brief together for all the reusable vessels and Amcor (previously Berry) have been a great partner to work through the process with.

The online reusable vessel we use with Ocado comes with 2 different neck apertures – one for liquids and one for dry goods. This means we have a very visible difference between the vessels for food and non-food, which makes it much simpler to maintain 2 distinct pools of vessels and to ensure no food ever goes into a non-food vessel All vessels have been made of HDPE (and in future will also include rHDPE) and this was a very conscious decision to do with resilience in the supply chain and across many cycles of usage. They wash and dry extremely well and we have stringent testing that covers a full range of allergens, etc as well as testing to see if volatile fragrances or high stain products have any residual effect. So far (and we’ve tested some really, really tricky products), we have not found anything that causes any problems to our process.

7. Open-source ecosystem principles are central to the coalition’s approach. In practical terms, how can open infrastructure accelerate industry-wide adoption without undermining competitive differentiation among participating retailers and brands?

I think we need to start living in the 21st century and recognise that brands are not reliant on packaging shape anymore! Branding does still matter, it’s just about how you now do it, remember Coca Cola is just as strong in can format as it is in icon bottle. Walk down the canned food or beverage aisle and tell me that some of the world’s most famous brands don’t exist extremely well in standardised packaging. The challenge is not in standardising packaging forms, we need to do this so that we can have a much more efficient and lower cost end to end system. The challenge for brands is in ensuring they brand those items well and I am positive that that is both doable and desirable.

8. What role does digital technology — including tracking systems, data integration, and asset management platforms — play in ensuring refill systems remain commercially viable at scale?

We certainly do not need to be tracking packaged goods at an item level. Even if we knew where a stray vessel had ended up, it would be grossly uneconomic to go out, find it and collect it. Plus there is the cost of the server farms and the CO2 being expended to make that data even possible and we are talking about many many millions of pieces of packaging. That is not what I would typify as responsible sustainability nor, frankly, a great use of data What we need is traceability – knowing what has been in a vessel previously, being able to manage a recall if necessary and what information is required for a customer to know if they have product that is being recalled. These are the important things we need to be able to do at an item level. To do this we can use QR codes, bar codes and RFID – all have different strengths and uses and we have been working with our partners to ensure we are using them in the most efficient and useful ways.

9. Reuse systems are often evaluated primarily through sustainability metrics. Beyond environmental outcomes, what broader business performance indicators should the industry use to assess the long-term success of refill ecosystems?

Environmental outcomes are only one part of what are the essential metrics. In the current climate we need to also look at the significant commercial upside of reuse systems. Using our UnpackAnalytics scenario modelling tool we have provided the UK government and other nations a data driven view of the commercial benefits of reuse at scale. If 30% of grocery retail in the UK switched to reusables, we would see end to end system costs decrease by upto £577m per year, as well as a saving of over £130m in pEPR costs per annum alongside the environmental benefits of seeing a 95% reduction in packaging materials and waste. 

In addition we need to think about resource sovereignty, and if we switch to reusables, we have a far, far lower reliance on resources provided from other areas of the globe. We have all been witness to the profound effects on our economy and on the cost of living due to various wars currently. Resource scarcity and increasing prices for those resources is not going away. Reusables are a way to better address the problem we all face worldwide.

So my answer would be that reuse systems provide a better economic outcome, manage resources better and enable better resource sovereignty and are also the far more sustainable solution

10. One of the recurring criticisms of reuse models is that they can shift operational burdens onto consumers. Based on the coalition’s findings, how can retailers balance sustainability objectives with customer convenience and affordability?

The findings from both the Aldi and Ocado trials would say that consumers are very happy to participate in systems in which we all, as citizens, win. Designed well, as we have done, these systems can be convenient, affordable and better for the planet – there is no need for a forced choice, they can deliver all 3.

11. From a packaging innovation standpoint, how might widespread adoption of reusable vessel systems reshape the future role of traditional packaging manufacturers and converters?

Kodak famously failed to spot the change to their marketplace that digital technology brought. If packaging manufacturers want to avoid a similar fate they need to start looking at what the world needs and not at what they have become accustomed to providing. There are great examples of progressive packaging manufacturers working in the reusable space, and there is room for many more and for much more innovation, we’re only in the foothills right now.

12. How do you see evolving regulatory pressures around packaging waste and extended producer responsibility influencing the pace of adoption for standardised refill infrastructure in the UK and globally?

At the Reuse Economy Expo in Paris last week, President Macron attended and ran his 5th Ecological Planning Council at the show and talked of the need for reuse as a key tool to address subjects such as the economy, industrialisation, sovereignty, resilience and control of resources. Governments will continue to further apply regulatory pressures to bring reuse and refill to the fore for these reasons, and we see that happening across the globe. I personally would love the pace to be quicker, but the direction of travel is very, very clear

13. Looking ahead, what are the most critical unresolved challenges that still need to be addressed before refill and reuse systems can achieve mainstream integration across both physical retail and e-commerce environments?

Fundamentally the case is now proven. What’s required now is the will power and desire from the very tops of commercial organisations to make the change.